Latest Asset Recovery Statistics Published by Home Office

The Home Office’s Annual Statistical Bulletin on asset recovery was released last Thursday. Please find a summary of the main headline statistics from the latest release summarised below. It is the eighth release of the bulletin covering the period between the financial years 2018/19 and 2023/24.  

The statistics below are presented as nominal values i.e., not adjusted for inflation and any comparisons to previous years do not account for inflation. Further information on real values i.e., adjusted for inflation can be found in the Asset Recovery Annual Statistical Bulletin and ODS Data Tables.

The headline statistics for this release are:

£243.3 million was recovered using asset recovery powers (Confiscation, Forfeiture, and Civil Recovery Orders) in the financial year ending March 2024. Performance figures can be volatile from year to year but the long-term trend shows that the value of assets recovered is improving and sustaining a high level of recovery.

Of the £243.3 million recovered:

• £128.5million was recovered through confiscation order receipts, a 28% decrease from the financial year ending March 2023, which was mainly attributed to a lack of high value confiscation order receipts which have been seen in previous years (£93.5m obtained by the Serious Fraud Office in the financial year ending March 2023). 
• £107.3 million was recovered through forfeiture order receipts, a relative increase of 8% from the financial year ending March 2023 due partially to an increase in the value of cash forfeitures. This also reflects a longer-term sustained increase in the amount recovered, up 4% from the six-year median (£103.4 million).
• £7.4 million was recovered through civil recovery order receipts, an 88% decrease from the financial year ending March 2023. However, the financial year ending March 2023 experienced unprecedented level of civil recovery receipts, driven by a £53.9 million order obtained by the National Crime Agency (NCA). Civil recovery performance in the financial year ending March 2024 was the lowest level recovered in the last six financial years.
• £17.8 million was paid in compensation to victims from proceeds of crime recovered through Confiscation Order receipts, a 15% increase from the financial year ending March 2023. This is primarily driven by an increase in the compensation recovered from Local Police Forces and Regional Police, increasing by 23% and 35% respectively from the financial year ending March 2023.
• £98.1 million of funding was distributed to law enforcement agencies for the financial year ending March 2024, under the Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme (ARIS). This represents a 17% decrease from the financial year ending March 2023. This can be attributed to the overall decrease in the proceeds of crime recovered in the same period, of which ARIS receipts are shared between investigating, prosecuting and enforcement agencies.

£885.9 million of assets were restrained, seized or frozen in the financial year ending March 2024, representing an increase of 55% compared to the £570 million restrained, seized, or frozen in the previous financial year.

Of the £885.9 million denied:

• £654.5 million of restraint orders were granted, a 77% increase from £370.4 million in financial year ending March 2023. This is due to a substantial increase in the value of high value restraint cases in financial year ending March 2024 compared to the previous year.
• £231.4 million was seized and frozen under forfeiture powers (cash seizures, account freezing orders (AFOs) and listed asset orders). While the value of assets seized under cash seizures has consistently fallen since financial year ending March 2021, the value of AFOs have increased by 37% since financial year ending March 2021, offsetting the decline from cash seizures and driving an overall increase in the total value of seizures.

Additionally, £307.9 million of confiscation order impositions were granted in financial year ending March 2024, increasing by 60% from the previous financial year (£192.6 million), reaching the highest value over the past six financial years. They are recorded in this pre-asset recovery phase of the system as they are the point at which the court places a requirement to pay a Confiscation Order on an offender.

£1.8 million was investigated under UWOs in the financial year ending March 2024, up from £0 in the last three financial years. The Home Office annual UWO report is a statutory requirement under the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 to report annually on the number of UWOs obtained for an applied each year. The report will be published separately to the annual statistical bulletin every September.

£13.9 million was agreed as the ARIS Top Slice budget for financial year ending March 2024, this was used to fund a total of 15 projects to improve asset recovery processes and performance.

£5.8m was recovered through International Cooperation for financial year ending March 2024, a 43% increase from the previous financial year. The value of proceeds of crime retained by the UK government was £2.3m. 

Total proceeds of grand corruption recovered in the financial year ending March 2024 was £5.5million. Of which £5.4 million was recovered via criminal mechanisms and £0.1 million recovered via civil mechanisms.

The team at Davidsons is regularly instructed in relation to Proceeds of Crime Act matters. Please contact us with your enquiry.